It’s been an up and down season for Nomar Mazara. In April, he hit .229, in May he hit .340, in June he hit .202, in July he hit .205, and over the past month, he’s been slashing .311/.371/.491, going 2-2, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI on Wednesday, so if you’ve had him since the beginning of August, you’ve been happy. His ownership has seen similar waves, as he was typically drafted right at the end of most drafts and dropped when he started struggling. Then when he turned it on in May, everyone owned him, only to drop him in June and July, only to pick him up again. Unfortunately this is the nature of someone like Mazara, he’s a power hitter first and foremost, and power hitters go through streaks often dictated by their BABIP. In April, June, and July, the three months where he was terrible, his BABIP was .247, .222, and .230 respectively. Mazara is one of those guys who should always be owned but should be benched when he’s slumping, and luckily right now, he’s on his good streak, and if you happen to be lucky enough to be in one of the 41% of leagues he’s available in, I’d grab him. One note of warning though, he was taken out of Wednesday’s game with quad tightness, though the Rangers have Thursday off, so that might be all the time he needs to recover. Just keep an eye on it.
Let’s take a look at some of the other performances from Wednesday:
Jose Peraza (SS/2B/OF, CIN) – 1-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB. I really wanted Jose Peraza to be better this year, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. After struggling hard, mostly thanks to his miserable plate discipline, he eventually lost his starting role and became essentially entirely irrelevant for fantasy purposes. However it looks like he’s going to get more playing time now, especially since Billy Hamilton is hurt, and Peraza’s looked like a much more patient hitter in the second half of the season, raising his walk rate from 1.5% in the first half to 9.6% in the second half. We know how great his speed is, and if he can hit for average like we all hoped, he might be a solid speed replacement for those who lost Hamilton, and he’s available in around 72% of ESPN leagues.
Elvis Andrus (SS, TEX) – 5-9, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB. Doubleheaders are a beautiful thing for fantasy sometimes. Welcome to the 20/20 club Elvis Andrus, what an awesome year it’s been for him. We all expected a standard Elvis Andrus year of a high batting average and a ton of steals and instead, he keeps stealing bases and jacks up the power. I would imagine you’re very happy if you drafted him.
Khris Davis (OF, OAK) – 3-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI. Three home runs in five days for Davis now. You expect the power, obviously, but the fact that he’s been batting .313 over the past two weeks has been pretty fantastic too. Oh yea, and slugging .708.
Jackie Bradley Jr. (OF, BOS) – 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB. Man, welcome back JBJ, it’s about time he kicked things on after hitting just .158 since returning from the DL. He’s available in around 50% of ESPN leagues and while he might not be worth picking up immediately (unless you really need help in outfield right now), keep an eye on him, because when he heats up, he goes nuts.
Salvador Perez (C, KC) – 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI. I TOLD YOU. Like I said in the last Batter’s Box, I know Perez has been bad, but he’ll get better, and hopefully this is the beginning of that.
Carlos Santana (1B, CLE) – 3-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI. A .337/.454/.622 slashline over the past month and an OPS of 1.013 in the second half of the season so far. I hope you didn’t give up on Carlos Santana at the All-Star Break.
Joe Panik (2B, SF) – 5-6, 3 R, 2 RBI. Fun fact: Joe Panik is slashing .394/.452/.652 over the past month and he’s available in around 88% of ESPN leagues. He also has 12 hits in the past three days, tying a major league record, and it’s worth noting that, three days ago, Panik was advised by his hitting coach to choke up on his swing. Could that have contributed? Maybe. But either way, Panik is an interesting pickup if you need help at second base.
Kyle Seager (3B, SEA) – 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI. I know it hasn’t been the year we wanted from Kyle Seager, but he’s got three home runs in the past three days right now, so don’t go dropping him just yet, because this could be the start of a good streak.